Fool Before the Master
Fool Before the Master
In everything you accomplish, every skill that you learn, all jobs you participate in and each activity you practise, you have to start somewhere, that place in which you begin you will be the fool, it takes being the fool before you can become the master.
The Fool
This is a fear for an abundance of people, a fear of being bad at things, embarrassing themselves in front of their team, work colleagues, friends, anything in fact. When it comes to something new, which everyone but you has experience in, it can be quite daunting knowing you don’t really know what you are doing, and it is most probable on this day you are the worst participant in the field. Everyone has felt this, why? Because to learn anything in life you will have to be put in this position. Being the apprentice on a new worksite or the shy guy on the field of a team sport. This is what it means to be the fool. To learn anything in life we have to come to terms with this, embrace the role of the fool instead of being in fear of it as then you will not hesitate to try new things.
The Learning Fool
Sometimes it is better to dive in, ask questions and make mistakes rather than be too worried of looking like the fool. When you dive into the deep end you are forced to swim, so throw yourself there and learning becomes more efficient. This is where you accept the fact you are going to be the fool but decide not to sideline it, to get better at a game you have to participate, so get in there and make attempting as much as possible the main priority so you can learn the do’s and don’ts. Being too scared to try new things or have a go at a task or having a run at the ball is only going to delay your learning. Rather to continually be passed the ball and making runs in a football match will allow you to pick up key aspects of the game, as well as what works and what doesn’t at a much faster pace. So be the fool, but the learning fool, dive in, ask questions, make mistakes but all with the intention of learning, yes you will still be the fool but the one that learns within a week of what they do, rather than multiple months.
The Master
It too takes a world of focused effort to reach the stage of the master, and the same mindset occurs. Even once the stage of being a fool has been conquered, a natural ability to perform in the given task has been formed, there is still room for improvement, and this can be enhanced through conscious effort. We tend to go into an automated mode once we have a skill down pat, our learning mind dissipates and repeats the skill on autopilot for the rest of our lives with little improvement in what we are involved in. To become the master you are the eternal student, learning always with the focus on how something can be improved on next. You may be good at any given skill, but what happens if you stop trying to improve? You flatline, you reach your peak and everyone else gradually catches up. Place focus on where you can improve, if mopping a flaw for work then how can you mop it so the flaw is even more polished then when previously completed, or how can you become faster without impeding on the work. Find an area of improvement, build on it, then build on it some more, the learning only continues to improve your ability. Try new things, yes mistakes will be made but many fighters learn more from their loses, to get hit by using a certain technique will allow one to work around that error going forward.
Don’t get too comfortable, in anything at any stage as there is always room for improvement. Dive in, tackle being the fool in the beginning with the mindset of attempting and reflecting. When the fool stage is conquered, continue to pick up areas of improvement, place a focused will to develop in these areas and you will excel continuously in the domain of your choosing to the point you become the master.
